31 August 2018 | New Racing Series Called ‘Extreme E’, Dyson To Build 6 EV Test Tracks and California To Go 100% Zero Carbon Power

Well good morning, good afternoon and good evening, wherever you are in the world, hello and welcome to the Friday 31st August edition of EV News Daily. It’s Martyn Lee here with the news you need to know about electric cars and the move towards sustainable transport.

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DYSON TO INVEST IN SIX TEST TRACKS FOR EV PUSH

James Dyson, the company which bears his name, have been quietly working on electric car technology for a few years now. A total of $2.7bn is being spent on the project, not that you’d know, because they’ve been keeping the project very much to themselves.

If you compare that to another high profile CEO who likes to get on Twitter, it’s another way of doing it.

So far they’ve spent $110m on restoring it’s campus at Hullavington Airfield in Wiltshire, UK, and will invest $150m more during the next phase. The airfield comes with a fair bit of history, 1,000 aircraft were based there by the end of WWII but now it is being reinvented as a 21st Century centre of zero emission transport.

“Today, Dyson submitted plans to the local U.K. government to transform 750 acres of the airfield into a $260 million testing ground for electric vehicles–a step closer to its goal of having its cars on the road by 2021.” reports Katherine Schwab for Fast Company: “Much of Dyson’s bet on electric cars is based on its purported development of solid state batteries, which are the next big technological advance beyond today’s commonly used lithium batteries. But building a car from scratch, let alone mass manufacturing one, is no easy task. This test track is the first big piece of infrastructure Dyson is building to support its automotive dreams.”

Dyson’s CEO, Jim Rowan: “Our growing automotive team is now working from Dyson’s state-of-the-art hangars at Hullavington Airfield. It will quickly become a world-class vehicle testing campus where we hope to invest [200 million pounds ($260.5 million)], creating more high-skilled jobs for Britain. We are now firmly focused on the next stage of our automotive project strengthening our credentials as a global research and development organization.”

Dynamic Handling Track: This particular track will help Dyson to “assess and tune” every aspect of the vehicle’s suspension, steering, and brakes.

Fast Road Route: Much like it sounds, Dyson will use this track to test the maximum speeds that its vehicle is able to achieve, as well as its advanced driver assistance systems.

Hill and Handling Road Route: Twists and turns, this route will simulate a challenging road environment by incorporating difficult corners and altitude changes.

Off Road Route: Vehicles will simulate an off-road driving experience using both soft and varied terrain.

Test Slopes: Hills and varying gradients will be used to test all aspects of Dyson’s powertrain.

Vehicle Stability Dynamic Platform: Dyson describes this track as a “large asphalt covered area” where it will test vehicle manoeuvrability

I’m not only a huge fan of Formula E, but also looking forward to the forthcoming Jaguar I-PACE racing series in support, the Electric GT racing series and soon electric rally cross. But now we’re looking at an offshoot of Formula E called Extreme E.

“According to Motorsport.com, Extreme E will pit electric SUVs against each other in off-road races in places like the Himilayas and the Arctic. Expected to launch in 2020, Extreme E will be run by Formula E — specifically Indy 500 winner and current adviser to McLaren Formula 1, Gil de Ferran.” says John Beltz Snyder for Autoblog.com: “As Formula E CEO Alejandro Agag told Motorsport, “Extreme E — all I can say is that it’s a new project that will be operated by Formula E.” But then he did say more, adding, “Formula E will take over the operation of that new project — the new project is still in very early stages. But hopefully Gil de Ferran, who is leading the project, will do an announcement soon with more details. But that’s all I can say.” Agag also suggested the race will involve electric SUVs, as “that’s where the big manufacturers are going.”

“A bill that would set California on a trajectory toward carbon-free emissions from its electric power sector cleared a major hurdle with its passage through the California State Legislature. The 100 Percent Clean Energy Act of 2018, sets a state policy that eligible renewable energy and zero-carbon resources supply 100 percent (%) of all retail sales of electricity in California by 2045.” according to NatlawReview.com.

This makes it the largest economy in the world to make such a pledge and with everyone driving electric cars by 2045 it’s a double whammy. Given its size, California is expected to influence other states to adopt similar legislation – or even spur a national transition to clean energy.

WLTP ARRIVES TOMORROW

“New automobiles registered as of September 1, 2018 must be certified according to the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP).” reports automotiveworld.com: “The new test procedure provides customers with more realistic fuel consumption data. The WLTP driving cycle is divided into four parts with different average speeds: low, medium, high and extra high. Each part contains a variety of driving phases, stops, acceleration and braking. Each engine/transmission combination of a certain vehicle type is tested with the most economical as well as the most fuel-intensive vehicle equipment.”

Matthias Schmidt @auto_schmidt

As far as I understand as things stand at present Europe’s best selling model last year the #VW #Golf, won’t be available from this Saturday. According to a press briefing from VW, Golf wasn’t on the list of VW models to have received #WLTP certificates up to now.

A VW statement said: “The company will be very close to achieving full availability for the entire range of vehicles in approximately three months. To keep waiting times as short as possible for customers, Volkswagen is using the systematic storage of vehicles – for example at the new airport in Berlin. If there is already WLTP approval, then there will be no impact. In other cases, delivery times could be delayed by weeks or months.”

An earlier VW report said: “The WLTP will be introduced in the EU-28 countries, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein as well as Turkey and Israel as countries that follow EU regulations. Outside of Europe, Japan will introduce the WLTP in modified form and China will introduce it for emissions. In addition, India and South Korea plan to introduce WLTP at a later stage. The new test procedure will account for conventional combustion engines as well as hybrid and electric vehicles.”

ELECTRIC PEUGEOT 208

“Peugeot is launching an electric version of the next generation 208. The compact supermini will be fitted with an electric powertrain and battery pack to enable zero-emissions driving.” according to The Express newspaper: “Speaking to AutoCar, the company’s design boss, Gilles Vidal said that the company feels like they “do not need to shout about the fact that this car is the electric version.” It is likely to gain a smooth, flat front grille to improve aerodynamics and so in-car electric specific options but nothing too much that screams EV on the exterior.”

“Peugeot’s owner, the PSA Group, and its Chinese joint-venture partner, Dongfeng, have developed an EV-specific version of the Common Modular Platform (CMP) that will underpin the new 208. The so-called e-CMP architecture will be the basis for many of PSA’s planned EVs. Vidal didn’t believe that establishing an electric vehicle sub-brand under a different name, as Volkswagen is doing with its forthcoming ID range of cars, is something that would work for Peugeot.” says Rachael Burchess in the original Autocar article.

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